Cid paused where he stood, thinking about the future of the familia, when someone tugged lightly at the hem of his clothes from behind.
"Big brother… are you from the Astraea Familia?"
It was a little girl hugging a teddy bear—bright, cheerful, the picture of an upbeat child.
"Yes. Do you need something?"
Cid stopped and greeted her with a gentle smile, but his eyes were already studying her carefully.
This ordinary-looking child… saw through my perfect 'mob' disguise?
Could she be a ruthless old fox, using transformation magic as a cover?
That perception—and such rare magic… a formidable enemy!
"Awesome! Mister, my name is Ria. Could you help me say thank you to the red-haired big sister and the elf big sister? They saved me last time!"
Ria beamed, full of energy and the kind of smile a kid her age should have.
Cid felt his hopes deflate. He'd thought he'd finally run into an opponent worth fighting.
It seemed she'd only learned about him because she was grateful.
"The red-haired one is probably Sister Alise. But which elf sister? …Is she flat? No—both of them are pretty flat… Anyway, you can tell them yourself. They patrol every day. They'll come to this street again."
Since taking Ganesha Familia's commission, Astraea Familia hadn't gone into the Dungeon for a while.
They spent their days patrolling instead, and they passed through this street at least two or three times a day.
"Okay…"
Seeing the little girl look disappointed, Cid could only reach out and pat her head.
"If you don't run into them, I'll pass the message along. But if you meet them first, it's best to thank them in person, alright?"
"Got it! Thank you, mister!"
Cid watched her go, and an uneasy feeling crept over him.
He couldn't tell where it was coming from, so he decided to return to the familia's home base first—the Court of Stars.
When he opened the gates, Goddess Astraea was waiting quietly by the entrance.
She smiled warmly the moment she saw him.
"Welcome home, Cid."
Ever since Astraea Familia began patrolling for Ganesha, the goddess had personally waited every day to greet her children when they returned.
In her words, being able to see them come back safely—what was a little waiting compared to that?
Faced with such a kind, tolerant goddess who cherished her familia, Cid responded with a heart of stone.
"Goddess… I want to change familias."
"Hm? Change familias?"
Astraea tilted her head.
The gods of Orario were beings who had lived for ages beyond counting.
Normally, one would imagine them as divine—either benevolent or distant.
As the head of the familia and the goddess of justice, Astraea should have felt like everyone's mother.
But the Astraea standing before Cid—while she did carry a gentle aura—looked far too young. Standing beside teenage Cid, she looked more like an older sister.
And the presence of her chest was… overwhelming—the sort that would never let children go hungry—making it hard to even notice her "motherly" vibe.
So in mortal understanding, does justice equal… big?
Even Astraea in the myth of the Scales was that big, after all.
All in all, she didn't look like a mother. She looked more like a newlywed wife waiting for her husband to come home.
Even now, when the child she had raised from small said he wanted to leave, Astraea only looked mildly surprised.
She didn't get angry. She simply asked gently, still smiling.
"Cid… did something happen? Why do you want to leave the familia?"
"Because everyone is too strong. I can't keep up at all. I shouldn't keep dragging everyone down."
Cid's excuse came out smoothly.
But Astraea's gaze stayed calm.
"Cid… you do understand that lying in front of a god has no meaning, don't you?"
Even without using divine power, Astraea knew her only male child wasn't as timid and submissive as he appeared.
He wasn't the type to feel inferior to his companions.
Besides, Astraea and Cid were close.
Cid had been Astraea Familia's very first member—he'd almost taken Astraea's surname.
In the end, it was the familia's captain who argued fiercely that sharing a surname with a god could be seen as disrespect and would invite strange looks from outsiders. That was what made the goddess change her mind.
So now Cid carried the captain's surname instead—Alise's.
In name, they were siblings.
Only "in name," though—Cid had been reborn into this world as a baby, with no parents at all.
At least Sun Wukong had the decency to pop out of a rock.
Because of that past—because Cid was practically raised by Astraea—she understood him better than anyone.
"That reason is what I tell my sisters. As for the real reason…"
Cid's pitiful, teary expression vanished instantly, replaced by a drained, lifeless look.
Thinking back on his life in Astraea Familia made him want to cry.
This world had magic, sure—but there were plenty of settings Cid genuinely hated.
No matter what authority they possessed, gods all had the ability to tell whether humans were lying.
To hide his true strength from Astraea, who knew how much effort and sweat Cid had poured in?
He couldn't lie, but the highest level of deception was telling only truths—while guiding the listener into the misunderstanding you wanted.
To preserve his identity as a perfect "mob," Cid had spent years playing mind games with Astraea.
He didn't even know how many brain cells had died in the process—yet he'd barely managed to keep his persona intact.
Looking back, it was more bitter than a tragic romance.
And then there was the Blessing itself—basically a game status screen.
You started at Level 1, with five basic parameters.
Once one parameter rose past Rank D—over 500 points—and you accomplished a "feat," you could level up.
The difference between levels was enormous. Crossing tiers in combat was essentially impossible.
Cid hated that kind of blunt, rigid power system.
After he was forced to reach Level 2 on the surface, Level 1 adventurers stopped provoking him.
Just thinking about it made his chest ache.
In Orario, more than half of all adventurers never reach Level 2 in their entire lives.
Which meant that on the surface, Cid was already stronger than over half the city.
His difficulty of "acting like a mob" skyrocketed.
But if he didn't level up, it wouldn't make sense either.
When Cid first adjusted his status as a child, he had no experience, and the talent he showed was "above average."
After that, Sister Alise dragged him into training every day and personally "supervised" every tiny improvement.
Without a suitable excuse, Cid couldn't keep suppressing his status growth indefinitely.
If he did, Alise would assume something was wrong with his body and start running around searching for doctors.
So Cid could only grow at a pace that was "reasonable," but slower than it should've been.
And even if he kept getting beaten up and only ever said things like "Sister, you're amazing," Alise still never considered giving up on him.
Cid did his best to hide his true progress, but after all these years, he'd still reached the point where leveling up was inevitable.
Then his companions basically forced him to complete the "feat" needed for Level 2.
At that point, refusing to level would have been outright rude.
So Cid could only force a smile and, under everyone's witness, upgrade to Level 2.
If he ever wrote a book teaching other adventurers how to level up, he already had the very first line prepared:
"The art of leeching is the science of leveling up while lying down in the Dungeon."
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